


A Bone of One's Own

by katayla



Category: Emily of New Moon - L. M. Montgomery
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 09:27:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5451710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katayla/pseuds/katayla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Janet's beginning to think there are no good writers left in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bone of One's Own

**Author's Note:**

  * For [evelyn_b](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evelyn_b/gifts).



> Thank you to my beta!

"That's the last of them" Janet said, and stuck the manuscript onto a towering stack of rejections. "And not a worthy one in the lot."

"I thought the one about the cat wasn't bad," Samantha, one of the junior editors said.

"Trite and sentimental," Janet said, and then sighed. "Very well, we have to publish _something_. Send out an acceptance--but try not to make it too glowing."

She stood up from the table and, after issuing a few more instructions, left the room. These editorial meetings were growing more and more tedious. The magazine would be fine this month. They had plenty of contributions from their regulars, but wasn't there anyone new out there who could write? She was so weary of reading silly poems about sunsets and morality tales with weak writing and no actual morals at all.

She took a stack of a magazines with her to lunch, hoping that there were still good writers out there somewhere in the world, even if they wrote for a competitor. But these magazines, too, were full of empty words. Nobody could paint a picture anymore, or make her laugh. The stories read as if the writers dashed them off as a lark.

After paging through two of her three magazines, Janet was greeted by an acquaintance and the two of them spent the rest of lunch bemoaning the lack of young, good writers.

\----

As Janet climbed the stairs to her flat, she hear Chu-Chin scratching at the door. A dog was such a friendly creature! She wished she'd known that when she first moved to the city. She would never have felt so alone if she'd had Chu-Chin then.

When she opened the door, Chu-Chin leapt upon her, and she knelt down to let him lick her face. "And how was your day?"

Chu-Chin ran across the room and picked up his lead for the evening walk. He was such a clever dog! They spent many nights roaming the city together. Tonight, they walked for longer than usual, and when they returned, Janet heated her meal, and curled up in her armchair with the last of her magazines. (And wouldn't Aunt Angela roar if she knew Janet wasn't eating supper at the table?) After only a few bites, she sat bolt upright. "Why, this is-- _good_!"

She absently mindedly shoved her plate to the floor (Chu-Chin made quick work of her supper) and put her full attention on the magazine. After several minutes, she flipped back a couple of pages, and cleared her throat.

"Listen to this, Chu-Chin. _The Woman Who Spanked the King_ by Emily Byrd Starr."

\---

The next morning, instead of going to her own office, Janet walked a few blocks down the street to the _Roche's_ office.

"I must see Douglas immediately," she said to the receptionist.

"Mr. Thomas has quite a full day," the man behind the desk said. "I suggest leaving your card and he will contact you if he wishes to see you."

Janet raised her eyebrows and stepped past him. "Never mind. I know where his office is."

Douglas was hunched over a manuscript, red pen in hand. When she entered the room, he jumped out of his seat.

"Miss Royal, how wonderful to see you!"

He came forward to take her hand, but Janet shook her head. "Never mind that. You must tell me--who is Emily Byrd Starr? Where can I find her?"

"Now Janet, are you looking to poach my writers?"

She waved her hand and sat down in the chair opposite his desk. "You don't have a right to the brilliant girls."

"All right, I will tell you, if only so you can share my amusement. She's from Prince Edward Island! Have you ever heard of such a place? Some tiny island in Canada! I tell you--"

But Janet didn't hear anything else. She froze. She could feel herself doing it. It was twenty years and she had shaken off the dust of PEI long ago, and yet it had borne her and raised her.

Douglas, good old soul, recognized the signs of her temper, even if he couldn't understand what set her off, and stopped talking. He handed her a slip of paper, and said his good-byes. She said thank you--she thought she said thank you.

When she arrived at her own office and her assistant handed her a cup of tea, she glanced down at the slip of paper and felt her cold mood melt away in an instant.

"Aunt Angela, I am finally coming home to visit," she murmured.

For the paper read, _Emily Byrd Starr, Shrewsbury, Prince Edward Island_.

\---  
Shrewsbury was the same, as it would ever be, Janet contemplated, as she and Chu-Chin stepped off the train.

"Janet!" Aunt Angela called, and rushed over to embrace her. "You wouldn't tell me me which train you were taking, so I've been meeting them all."

"Oh, Aunty," Janet said. "Who do you think meets me when I take the train in New York?"

Aunt Angela frowned. "I wish you wouldn't--oh!" 

Chu-Chin had jumped onto Aunt Angela's skirts. "Janet, this is my best dress."

Janet leaned down to scoop up Chu-Chin. "And aren't you silly to wear your best dress to the train station?"

"Now, Janet," Aunt Angela said. 

Janet leaned over to kiss her aunt's cheek. "Never mind that. I shall buy you a new dress. Now, tell me everything you know about Emily Byrd Starr."

\--

"What do you think of _that_?" Janet asked Chu-Chin, after Emily had left and she'd gone upstairs to pack. "Imagine preferring Prince Edward Island to New York!"

Chu-Chin rolled on his back, and Janet scratched his belly. "You wouldn't abandon me for New Moon, would you?"

"Oh Janet," Aunt Angela said from the doorway. "You aren't leaving?"

"Dear Aunty," Janet said, looking up from her dog. "Surely you must see there's no place for me here?"

"Of course, there is. Why, I know at least three widowers who would be happy to marry again."

Janet walked over to put her arms around Aunt Angela. "Aunty darling, now I _know_ you're wishing me to stay. I thought you'd give me up as an old maid."

"Well, you're looking well. Everyone says so."

Privately, Janet reflected that everyone said it with a hint of pity and confusion in their voice. What was New York and ambition to a husband? Shrewsbury would never understand.

"I love you dearly, but I must get back to my life."

"But Janet--"

"Think of your cat, then! Won't she be glad to be free of Chu-Chin?"

Aunt Angela sniffed. "Well, she could learn to live with him."

Janet shook her head and went back to packing. New York was waiting and, if nothing else, Emily Byrd Starr had reminded her that _were_ still good writers in the world. She would find them!


End file.
